Minuet (Three Pieces for Organ, H.190, No. 2)

Frank Bridge (26 February 1879 – 10 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor.

Bridge was born in Brighton and studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903 under Charles Villiers Stanford and others. He played the viola in a number of string quartets, most notably the English String Quartet , and conducted, before devoting himself to composition.

His musical styles when through a continuous transformation. His early works, such as the "Adagio in E" are warm, Edwardian examples, but at other times his writing could be "impressionistic," and still quite dissonant and harsh at others.

Bridge was frustrated that his later works were largely ignored while his earlier "Edwardian" works continued to receive attention.

Although he was not an organist, nor personally associated with music of the English Church, his short pieces for organ have been among the most performed of all his output.

With the uploading of these three pieces, this now finishes my performance of the complete organ works of Bridge.

The "Three Pieces" date from 1939, and are very different from the earlier organ pieces. They are much more "modern," and considerably more dissonant than the earlier works. Except for the last of the set, I'd even say that they sound "less English," but perhaps it's my own limited understanding of them.

The second piece, "Minuet" initially did nothing at all for me, but, as I worked on it, I grew to like it quite a bit. It is dated: "Nov. 1939, Friston". The work is dedicated: "To Arthur M. Goodhart". Goodhart (1866-1941) was educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, and was the composer of some "highly unusual" organ works, a number of which are uploaded here.

See if you find this piece as striking and appealing as I did, but you'll need a few listens. :-)

The score is attached below, as well as several photos of Frank Bridge, and one of the dedicatee, Arthur M. Goodhart, are attached below.